Galaxy Quest

Galaxy Quest is a 1999 motion picture written by David Howard, with additional screenplay work by Robert Gordon and directed by Dean Parisot, starring Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Alan Rickman, and Tony Shalhoub.

Galaxy Quest and Star Trek

The movie parodied everything from the technology of Star Trek to the Star Trek conventions. The parody is mostly friendly (some Star Trek fans refer to it good-humoredly as "the best Star Trek movie ever made"), and was widely appreciated by science fiction fans.

Related Topics:
Convention - Parody - Science fiction

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As an acknowledged homage to Star Trek, there are a variety of correspondences between the world of Galaxy Quest and the world of Star Trek. The television program within the film, Galaxy Quest, is set around the starship NSEA Protector, an instrument of the National Space Exploration Agency; thinly veiled replicas of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 and Starfleet, respectively.

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A promotional website was set up by the film production company. It was intentionally designed to look like a poorly construction fan website, with "screen captures" and poor HTML coding. This was a reference to the countless similar websites devoted to Star Trek.

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Despite the overarching similarities to Star Trek, the film has more original dramatic and comedic merit than many spoof comedies (if it is to be considered one). For instance, Mel Brooks' Spaceballs, while a broad-hitting spoof of mostly Star Wars, with a few jabs at Star Trek, delivered less to a viewer not already associated with Star Wars. Conversely, many of the themes, subplots of Galaxy Quest can be followed and appreciated by those who know little to nothing about Star Trek, although Trekkies will either have a richer appreciation or a deeper dissatisfaction with the film, as a neutral response may be difficult to find in such circles.

Related Topics:
Mel Brooks - Spaceballs - Star Wars - Trekkies

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Cast

• Commander/Captain Peter Quincy Taggart (both titles are used), played by Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), is an almost perfect analogue of James T. Kirk/William Shatner; Taggart has a reputation for losing his shirt at the flimsiest excuse, rolling on the ground during combat, and making pithy speeches at the drop of a hat, while Nesmith is an egomaniac who regards himself as the core of Galaxy Quest, and tells fans to 'get a life', possibly parodying William Shatner's famous apperance on Saturday Night Live, in which he tells fans to do the same thing.
• Dr. Lazarus of Tev'Meck, played by Sir Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), is a member of an alien species reknowned for logic; he is deeply intelligent and has psionic abilities. Additionally, he has a non-standard weapon and a repeated catchphrase ("by Grabthar's hammer, you shall be avenged!"). In these regards, he parodies Spock and possibly Worf. Sir Alexander Dane is a tired ex-RSC actor who resents his typecasting; in this regard he combines elements of Leonard Nimoy and a rather unfair portrayal of Patrick Stewart. Lazarus' speeches often reflect a pseudo-religious bent, in the manner of Benjamin Sisko and Chakotay.
• Lieutenant Tawny Madison, played by Gwen DiMarco (Sigourney Weaver), is the Computer Officer of the Protector, and performs communications duties. Essentially her job boils down to listening to and then directly repeating orders to and information from the ship's computer (she is also the only person who can talk to the computer). She also wears a highly form-fitting uniform. In this manner she is similar to Uhura and Deanna Troi. The physical representation of the character is very similar to Beverley Crusher and the name Gwen DiMarco recalls the actress playing Crusher, Gates McFadden. Gwen herself, at least in the semi-canonical promotional material for the film, sees herself as a trailblazer, and defends the importance of her admittedly "stupid job" - her pronouncements are similar to some of Nichelle Nichols.
• Tech Sergeant Chen, played by Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub) is the Chief Engineer ('Tech Sergeant') and Transporter ('Digital Conveyor') Operator. He is similar in appearance to Pavel Chekov and has a similar delivery; his name, Chen, is a common Chinese name, even though he has an apparent European ancestry. This may parody the often muddled national identities of Star Trek. For instance, (Noonien Soong has a puzzlingly Chinese/Korean name, but is demonstrably neither).
• Lieutenant Laredo, played by Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell), is the very young 'boy wonder' helmsman, much disliked by fans. In this respect, he is similar to Wesley Crusher. He is also the only non-alien minority member of the crew, parodying token black characters like Uhura, Geordi LaForge, and Tuvok. Ironically, the character of Webber, now roughly in his twenties, takes a relatively minor role in the movie's third act, making Webber himself a token black.
• Crewman Number 6/Security Chief 'Roc' Ingersol, played by Guy Fleegman (Sam Rockwell), begins the story as an occasional redshirt who is played by a 'Questerian' (Trekkie) and small-time actor. His new persona as 'Roc' Ingersol at the end of the film and his role as 'plucky comic relief' has similarities to a number of Star Trek cliches.

Events

• The NSEA Protector leaves spacedock, grinding and denting its hull as it goes; this echoes .
• The Protector can separate into two parts, in the manner of the Enterprise-D of Star Trek.
• Travel through the bowels of the Protector is assisted by the service ducts, similarly to the Jefferies tubes. These service ducts are filled with nonsenical things like giant fans, flaming vents and useless giant pistons called "chompers", all things that really do not belong in a service duct.
• The Protector's matter-energy technology, the 'Digital Conveyor', is a standard science fiction teleporter, and so is necessarily similar to the Star Trek transporter. The interesting correspondence is in the name for the device's employment: the command to operate it is 'digitise', recalling the 'energise' command in Star Trek.
• The Thermians take the Galaxy Quest TV Show as the basis for their entire society, as in the TOS episode, A Piece of the Action.
• The Galaxy Quest relaunch TV series takes place "eighteen years after the original adventure"; was launched eighteen years after Star Trek was cancelled.
• The Galaxy Quest score is overblown, dramatic and brassy, parodying Star Trek scores, notably the theme tune to The Next Generation. Ironically, the Galaxy Quest theme is used in the Internet video series Star Trek: Hidden Frontier.
• Facing an enormous rock monster (a concept itself from an early script from '), Nesmith is advised by Webber to "go for its eyes, like in episode 22". This may be a reference to Star Trek VI. Guy then tells him to "fashion some sort of rudimentary lathe". This echoes a variety of incidents in Star Trek (particular the original series episode Arena) in which a crew member constructs an elaborate piece of equipment from few materials.
• At the Galaxy Quest convention, there is a shy girl who imagines a romance between Madison and Taggart, referencing the common phenomenon of shipping.